Elastic tire for vehicles.



I No. 627,823. Patented iune' 2,7;1899.

F. W. EY.

ELASTIC TIRE VEHICLES.

' tion Med Jan. 16. 1899.)

NITED STATES" PATE T EEI E.

FRANK W. KINNEY, or cnioAco, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CALUMET RUBBERTIRE COMPANY, on SAME PLACE.

ELASTIC TIRE FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,823, dated June 27,1899. Application filed January 16, 1899- 8erial No. 702,249. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK W. KINNEY, a resident of Chicago, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Elastic Tires for Vehicles, of which I do declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention has relation more particularly to the improvement of thatclass of rubber tires commonly known as solid tires, that are used uponthe wheels of carriages or like vehicles. In the construction of thisclass of tires the body of the tire proper, which is composed of rubber,has usually embedded therein one or more wires that serve to hold therubber of the tire under the longitudinal compression that is given toit before it is placed in position upon the wheel. Inasmuch as the wiresresist the return of the compressed mass of rubber to its normalcondition, there is a tendency of the tires under the movement of therubber incident to the jars and strains of usage to chafe and wearthrough the body of the tire, and as a considerable part of the lateralstrains suddenly orseverely thrown upon the tire are transmitted to thewire bands there is a further danger of the wires working out of theirnormal position by wearing away the adjacent part of the rubber. It hasbeen heretofore attempted to overcome this objection to the use of wiresby substituting therefor a flat steel tape or band but ,this has notgiven entire satisfaction, as the edges of the tape tend to chafe andwear in lateral direction through the rubber of the tire.

The object of the present invention is to provide the rubber tire with aretaining-ring that shall be more durable and effective than the wiresor the fiat steel tape heretofore used, the contour of the ring beingsuch that all danger of its chafing or cutting the rubber or shiftingits position therein will be avoided.

The invention consists in the novel construction of tire hereinafterdescribed, illustrated in the accompayin g drawings, and particularlypointed out in the claim at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a rubber shown in position upon thefelly of the wheel. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical cross section throughthe tire and its retaining ring. Fig.

3 is a detail perspective view of a port-ion of the metal ring. Thebody'A of the tire will be composed of rubber molded with a chamber thatextends throughout its length, this chamber being closed except at itsends, where it is left open for the passage therethrough of theretainingring D. In practice the rubber body A will be so molded thatthe walls of its interior chamber will conform to the outline of thering. The rubber body is seated within the metal rim B, of channel steelor iron, that will be fixed upon the rim or felly O of the wheel in theusual manner. The retaining- -ring D, that'is embedded in the rubberbody A, is of the peculiar shape shown in the drawingsthat is to say,this retaining-ring consists of a central web cl, having solid thickenededges (1, these thickenededges extending both above and below said web,so as to form upon each side of the ring a channel to receive thecompressed rubber of the body, and thus hold the ring againstdisplacement. The ring D is preferably formed from steel, the desiredcontour being given thereto by suitable rolls or dies. In practice thebody A of the tire is molded with a core adapted to form the closedchamber, corresponding substantially in outline to the contour of thering D, which ring will be inserted into the body A after the core hasbeen withdrawn. The rubber of the tire will then be compressed 8 5 andthe ends of the ring will bewelded or brazed together, preferably by theelectric welding process.

Inasmuch as the ring D is provided upon both sides with the channelsintermediate its thickened edges, the compressed rubber of the tire isforced into these channels, and thus effectively serves to resist anytendency of the ring to chafe or wear, and thus shift its positionwithin the mass of rubber. When 5 a band or ring has its ends joinedtogether,

there is found to be more or less tendency to twist, particularly underthe strains thrown upon such band after the body of the tire has 50 tireembodying my invention, the tire being been forced thereon andcompressed; but by my improved ring,inasmuch as there are channelsformed upon both its sides, all tendency of the ring to twist or shiftis effectively guarded against.

Another marked advantage incident to my invention is that inasmuch asthe thickened edge portions (1 of the ring are solid the ends of thering can be electrically welded with a butt-joint, the thickened edgesbeing usually of the size of the Wires heretofore employed in this classof tires. In practice it has been found to be the only practical way ofjoining the ends of a retaining-ring, and one of the vital objections tosheet-metal bands has been the impossibility of electrically weldingtheir ends because by reason of its thinness the metal will burn beforethe welded joint can be successfully formed. Hence it will be seen thatwhile my present invention affords all the supposed advantages of thedouble wires and of the band heretofore employed in this class of tires,it at the same time overcomes all the objections incident to such wiresand such band.

I am aware that it has been heretofore proposed; to form a rubber tirewith an interior band of sheet metal, the edges of the sheet metal beingturned over upon one side of the band to form tubes at such points; butsuch device is incapable of accomplishing the purthickened edges (l,said thickened edgesex:

tending both above and below the plane of said web and thus formingchannels onboth sides of the ring to receive the compressedrubber of thebody, and holdthe ring against lateral displacement.

FRANK W. KIN NEY.

Witnesses:

Gno. P. FISHER, J r., ALBERTA ADAMIOK.

